


Daisy & Donald

by CraftMaster_GlitterDisaster



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Dad Donald, Donald Duck and family, Donald navigates dating, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I just want them to be happy, One Shot Collection, One-Shots, Romance, Wholesome Daisy and Don
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24074533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CraftMaster_GlitterDisaster/pseuds/CraftMaster_GlitterDisaster
Summary: I desperately want more of this Daisy and Donald. A serious match made in heaven. This is a series of one-shots that will be connected to each other and explore Donald’s relationships with family members as he navigates having a girlfriend.I wish I owned Ducktales, but alas, none of these characters are mine. I guarantee you would know if they were my intellectual property, because I would definitely swim in money like a certain rich duck.
Relationships: Daisy Duck & Donald Duck, Daisy Duck/Donald Duck, Dewey Duck & Donald Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck
Comments: 102
Kudos: 380





	1. Come and Get Your Love

He didn’t notice the traffic on the way home, or the teasing remarks and taunting looks of his friends and nephews all piled in the car together. The rising flush Dewey and Louie were waiting for in their uncle’s cheeks never came. Heck, he’d even offered José and Panchito a ride to their motel, something Donald Duck wouldn’t have done if he weren’t in such a good mood. 

As soon as the two Caballeros left Donald’s Audubon, he was humming to some 80s love song Louie only recognized because it had been featured in the latest Ganders of the Galaxy soundtrack. It almost distracted from his begrudging mood that “Louie’s Eleven” hadn’t gone according to plan. 

Almost. 

“Hey Uncle D, I’m sorry you didn’t end up on the IT list. Think there’s any other rich guy’s bathrooms you can sneak into?” What could he do to throw off his uncle’s good mood? At least he could drag someone down to commiserate with him. 

Donald’s eyes flickered to make eye contact with Louie’s in the rearview mirror. “You know, I think I’m okay with that. The people that needed to hear the Caballeros did, and I think we could have some, um, good gigs come from it,” Donald blushed.

Dewey snickered. “Does one of those gigs involve a certain lady named Daisy?” Dewey wriggled in his seat, reaching out to high-five Louie, trying to get him to join in on some teasing. Teasing Donald only worked if there were brothers to make it worse, so he was surprised to see that Louie didn’t even lift his head off the car window, where he sat slumped in his suit. Dewey’s hand awkwardly lowered to the Daft Duck helmet in the middle seat.

Donald sighed, stars reflecting in his eyes as they drove away from the city lights, to the quiet, tranquil road where Scrooge’s mansion was. “I sure hope so.” 

Donald punched in the gate code, and the Audubon hummed as it switched gears to climb the hill. 

They were almost to the top when the Audubon gave out, engine killed stuck in the wrong gear. “Ah phooey.” Donald twisted around in his seat. “I’m going to need to push it onto the driveway, it won’t take long. You boys can go on ahead and get inside.” 

“Actually, can I hang back and help you out?” Dewey looked at his brother as if he’d grown an extra head. Louie NEVER volunteered to do work, especially when there was nothing in it for him. 

Donald noticed too, raising his eyebrows as he unbuckled the seatbelt. “Well it won’t take long, but sure, I’d love the help. Dewey, why don’t you start getting ready for bed?”

Dewey left with arched eyebrows as Louie hopped out of the car and made his way to the back. Donald was leaning against the car, looking down expectantly at Louie. Donald knew his nephews better than they did sometimes; after all, he’d raised them and he loved them with all his heart. If something was bothering one of his boys, it didn’t slip past their uncle. 

Louie silently started pushing the Audubon as Donald followed suit, waiting for Louie to talk first. “Uh, Uncle D? Daisy seemed really cool.” 

“She does, doesn’t she? I wouldn’t have met her without your help. I don’t know where things will go with her, but I’m excited to find out.” Donald kept pushing, but stole a glance over his arm to read Louie’s face. He stared forward, emotionless, thinking hard. “...you didn’t want to talk to me about Daisy though, did you?”

Donald heard a quick sigh next to him. “Yeesh, if I was that obvious about talking to you no wonder Louie’s Eleven didn’t work out.” 

“Nah, you were just dealing with a bunch of screw-ups like me to make things work. And it did work out in the end.”

“It definitely seemed to work out well for you. I guess that’s why I’m kinda scared? Uncle Donald, things with our family just got normal. It feels like things are going to change again and I don’t know how to feel about that. 

“It took a lot of getting used to to have Mom back. I still don’t know how to feel about her. I don’t know how things will go if you...leave the picture. You might not be there all the time, and that’s kinda scary.” 

Louie took a few deep breaths. “I know you love us, but I’m scared of the changes that might happen with you finding someone new to love.”

“It’s scary, isn’t it? My whole life turned upside down the first time I let someone to love into my life. But I don’t regret it for one second. Louie, you and your brothers mean everything to me.” Donald stopped pushing the car, and squatted down to be level with Louie. Reluctantly, Louie turned to face his Uncle. “You boys always, ALWAYS come first. And whatever happens with my life in the future, you’re going to be a priority. We’re family.”

“Its kinda silly to be scared of you not being there for us, isn’t it?” Donald was caught off guard as Louie hugged him tightly around the middle. “You’re pretty great, Uncle D. I hope things work out for you and Daisy. You deserve it.” 

“Hey, we haven’t even gone on a date yet!” Donald’s chuckle was raspy as he ruffled the feathers on Louie’s head. “Besides, with my luck who knows if she’ll even say yes.” 

“I have a feeling things are gonna work out. You can text her in the morning or something. You got her number, right?”

“...ah, phooey.”


	2. Milkshakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donald goes on an impromptu date with Daisy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this one-shot up soon after the last one, because they’re directly tied together! After these quick updates, I’ll probably post a one-shot a week.

Donald was on Cloud Nine. After initially forgetting to give his number, Daisy was delighted when Donald had raced back into the city the night they’d met, finding her cleaning up from the IT party. Politely asking how he could contact Daisy to see her again had earned him a kiss on the cheek, and a shy look from Daisy as her cheeks flushed. She extended an invitation she prayed Donald would accept: “Since you went through all the trouble of coming back here, I’d probably say yes if you were to ask me out right now. Saves us the hassle of figuring it out later.” 

When Donald asked if he could help clean up so that he could treat her to drinks or something afterward to celebrate a successful Gala, Daisy’s eyes sparkled. He was certainly earning himself some major points in her book. Not many guys were handsome AND observant AND were just so gosh darn good with kids, and she desperately wanted to get to know this sweet sailor better. Between themselves and the clean-up crew, the museum was spotless, maybe better than it had been before the IT Gala. Daisy was adding mental notes that this handsome-observant-dad guy was a hard worker too, something she could relate to. She couldn’t wait to get to know him better, and she expressed as much.

For once, Donald felt like he was one lucky duck.

When everything had been swept and dusted to perfection, Donald offered his arm to Daisy, and they walked out side-by-side as they made their way to Donald’s Audubon. Daisy was surprised she was still walking upright. She thought she was practically swooning at the old-fashioned charm and mannerisms, just look at the way he opened the car door for her, and —

Donald cleared his throat. “Um, Daisy? Is that okay with you?”

Scolding herself mentally, she asked, “Donald, could you repeat yourself?” She saw his shoulders tense. Shoot, she just remembered that he was self-conscious about being understood, though for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why. “Not that I didn’t understand you! I’m a blunt girl so I’m gonna give it to you straight, I was lost in thought because I think you’re a really nice guy. So, what did you have in mind?” Smooth, she avoided disaster with her quick talking. 

Donald relaxed and she caught a smile on his face as he closed the car door on her side, and slipped into the driver’s seat. “I was just wondering if you were alright with getting milkshakes. I know this great drive-in place that I take the boys to all the time. It got late pretty fast and I don’t think I want to be hungover when I’m pretty sure we’re doing family stuff tomorrow.”

“I’d really like that!” 

They pulled into the parking lot of a sweet little mom-and-pop shop, neon dancing off the white and red decor surrounding them. After inspecting the menu, Donald rolled down the window and pressed the button to order. “What can I get you this evening?” A droll, masculine voice asked through the speaker. 

Donald had never been here so late before. When he came with the boys, there were always chipper teenagers ready to help. A few of them were patient enough with him and his temper that he would slip them tips after being incredibly helpful and understanding.

Guess most of them didn’t want to be working late on a weekend. 

Bracing himself, Donald slowed down his speech and tried to enunciate every. Syllable. Clearly. This gruff sounding stranger was NOT going to wreck his good night. Besides, who was he to assume that this guy was going to be in a bad mood? “Can I get a root beer float and a banana split milkshake?” 

“...is this a joke? I swear if it’s you darn teenagers pranking us again I’m calling the cops.”

“No, no! Please don’t do that! I can say it again!” 

“If you can’t speak like a normal person, I’m going to hafta ask you to leave.” 

Anger shone in Donald’s eyes. He was about ready to smash the ordering station or take his frustration out on SOMETHING when he felt a firm hand on his chest. Daisy had unbuckled and was leaning over the driver’s seat, using Donald to brace herself. “What is wrong with you?!” She forcefully spit into the machine. “We’re doing nothing but being polite! All we asked for was some rassafrassin’ ice cream, it’s not that hard! That was incredibly rude and unprofessional! Now please, apologize and get someone else to take our gosh darn order!”

“...sorry miss, and uh, other guy. I’ll get someone to help you out ASAP.”

Daisy fiercely plopped back down in her seat, arms tightly folded across her chest as she took several deep breaths to calm herself down. 

Donald couldn’t help but stare, wide-eyed, at the sight of Daisy in his passenger seat. Gosh, this woman was getting better and better by the minute. With one final sigh, Daisy looked at Donald out of the corner of her eye, hesitant to turn fully towards him. “Sorry. Ah, first dates don’t usually get me so riled up.” 

She felt a gentle hand brush against her arm. Head turning, she saw Donald looking at her with an adoring ghost of a smile. “Everyone I know usually apologizes for me. They don’t stick up for me. And you don’t even know me! I, uh, thank you, Ms. Daisy.”

She blushed. She adored attention, but something about Donald’s gratitude landed differently. She didn’t feel like she had to fight to be noticed, and she found herself leaning towards Donald, taking the hand on her arm and bringing it to hers, letting their fingers intertwine. “I know you well enough to know that you’re worth sticking up for.” As if they’d done this a thousand times before, Daisy and Donald leaned forward, both of their eyes closing as Donald prepared to close the gap between their beaks, and —

“Hi there, I’m here to take your order! What will you be having tonight?” 

Donald jerked away from Daisy in annoyance. “You still want the same thing?” 

“Yes, please.” She suppressed a chuckle at the irony of it all. Just her luck to have a perfectly good kiss ruined. 

Donald ordered with no trouble at all this time, and sighed as he turned towards Daisy. “Just my luck to wreck a perfectly fine milkshake run.” 

She snorted. “Well then it’s equally my fault, I seem to have bad luck follow me everywhere.”

“No, trust me, it’s probably because of me.” 

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Doubt it! But I’ll tell you what, top my bad luck stories and I’ll treat you to dinner. And if I top you, you treat me to dinner. Sound like a deal?” 

Sipping on her banana split milkshake, Daisy couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so comfortable with something like this. Voices rose in friendly competition as she heard one ridiculous story after another from Donald. She kept it going for a long time - anything to keep hearing Donald’s sweet, raspy chuckle. 

She didn’t even care that she would have to treat Donald to dinner. For once, Daisy was fine with losing, because it meant she was winning over the heart of this amazing guy next to her.


	3. Half the Man I Wish I Was

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donald tells Scrooge he has a girlfriend after a particularly rough day of being, well, Donald.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve gotten such overwhelmingly positive responses from so many people, just wow, and thank you so much! I really struggled with this chapter, and rewatched several episodes to hopefully get Scrooge right. It ended up being a beast to write, but yay for you. Because it was a beast, it’s hecka long. I’m excited to share with all of you!

Donald trudged onto the houseboat after another long, disappointing, and now job-less day. 

It’s not like he had intended to get frustrated and knock a stapler off the table, nor had he intended for the stapler to somehow machine-gun staples in all directions. Unfortunately it was just his bad luck that this was the FIFTH TIME something like this had happened. He was no slouch, but his bad luck had made him utterly unproductive and cost the company he was working for more than he was worth, apparently. Never mind the countless hours he’d spent learning to code and be proficient at something since the internet became the next big thing, and never mind all the odd jobs and skills he’d picked up over the years. No one was wanting to keep a quick-tempered, chaos-inviting duck employed on their team. The only thing he’d ever been good at was his time training as an air traffic controller in the Navy, knowing the skies and the sea like the back of his hand. He had quickly been moving up in the ranks until his honorable discharge. 

He hadn’t quite planned on that career path being cut short, but he hadn’t planned on playing parent to the triplets, either. He hadn’t received all the training necessary to make a good life for himself and the boys, and he hated that painful reminder every time he got fired from another job. 

Well, now that he was home early, there was no harm in running through his monthly budget again, since the money Donald hoped to have didn’t match his reality. Again. 

He ran through the numbers, trying to keep in mind any extra expenses for the upcoming month — Huey had a Junior Woodchuck campout, Dewey wanted to give ultimate frisbee a try with the middle school team (how had the triplets gotten old enough for middle school??), Louie was NOT pinching money for his latest business venture, and Daisy...

Donald’s heart dropped. They hadn’t officially been dating long, but her birthday was soon, and now he wouldn’t have enough to get her something nice. Running a hand down his face, Donald got up and started pacing. He didn’t want to wreck the best thing to happen to him in quite some time, but Daisy liked THINGS. 

Not that she was greedy, but Daisy loved to feel confident and trendy in the latest styles, indulged in treating herself because she deserved it after a long day, had an astounding assortment of kitchen utensils (seriously, who even KNEW avocado knives were a thing), and, well, was overall more...feminine...than anyone Donald had associated with before. It was a welcome change to see someone else’s view on the world, and Donald thought he was all the better for it. He didn’t feel like he needed to do anything to deserve something nice for once. He had Daisy showing him that he could pay attention to himself, because he was worth taking care of. The very thought of her brought a thoughtful smile reaching up to Donald’s eyes, but it felt bittersweet knowing he would disappoint yet another person in his life — his sweet, adorable, beautiful, confident, outgoing, smart, ambitious, sassy, amazing Daisy. 

She deserved so much more than what he could offer. She deserved so much more than him. 

He sat at the kitchen table, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, melting into a puddle of frustration and embarrassment. Donald started to feel numb. He couldn’t provide and be the caretaker he was supposed to be, and he certainly couldn’t spoil his girlfriend a bit. Forehead met tabletop as Donald pondered whether or not to take a good, long look at his life. 

Just then, there was a forceful tapping on the houseboat’s door and Donald’s thoughts. Donald didn’t bother to get up. He knew that any second, Scrooge would get sick of waiting for him to open the door, and his cane would stop hitting the wood in that awful way. 

“Curse me kilts, lad, I shouldn’t have to invite you to come to supper every time we want ye to come over,” Scrooge called as he came through the door. “Yer as stubborn as a —“ Scrooge took in the sight of his nephew, slumped over the table, despair in his body language. It broke his heart to see, but he knew there was little he could do to help Donald. No matter how many times he offered to take on full financial responsibility for the boys, or offered to help with the gas and electric shares of the houseboat, Donald wouldn’t let him. It hurt to see Donald work so hard for almost nothing, and Scrooge wanted nothing more than to reward that incredible resiliency and drive. The only thing he could do right now was be Donald’s uncle, so he made his way to another chair at the table, putting a hand on Donald’s back. He patiently waited for his nephew to start talking, because if Scrooge were to start...well, it probably wouldn’t be something warm and fuzzy.

The first thing Scrooge heard was muffled quacks from the tabletop “...I can’t do it. I’m not...enough.” He hadn’t expected Donald to say that. His nephew may have an explosive temper, and functioned as a trap-detector on family outings, but he never knew Donald to just give up. Persistent to a fault, determined to protect those he loved, but never someone who let life get in his way, even when it seemed life had sent Braveheart and his army to haunt Donald from beyond the grave. 

Scrooge shuddered to think of the last time he saw Braveheart’s ghost. He was quite the supernatural force to be reckoned with.

Shaking himself out of that distracting frame of thought, Scrooge brought himself back to the problem at hand: Donald. “Did you lose another job?” Scrooge cursed internally. Was that really the first thing he wanted out of his mouth? He knew it had to be more than a job; what could it be? Better soften the blunt blow a wee bit. “If yer really that worried about money, ye know I’m more than happy to take care of the boys, lad. All ye have to do is say the word.”

Donald lifted his head slightly as he folded his arms on the table, a welcome nest to rest his chin. Struggling to find words, Donald blurted out the first thing that came to mind: “I have a girlfriend.”

Scrooge’s eyebrows rose, a mix of confusion and hurt. “And why are ye just telling me this now? How long have ye been dating?” 

“It’s only been a couple of months. When we made it official, I didn’t know how to bring it up, or how to bring her around here without feeling...” Donald paused for a beat, scrunching his face as he decided what to say, “...like a disappointment.”

Scrooge felt more confused than ever as his heart sank at what Donald had said. His nephew didn’t give away much, but it was enough to get at what was really bothering Donald. No family of his should feel like a disappointment; the Clan McDuck was a long line of go-getters and hard workers, and from everything that he knew of his dear nephew, Scrooge was proud to call Donald his family. “Why do ye feel that way?”

Donald sighed. “And why do you care now?”

“W-what do ye mean, lad?”

“Please. We all know that I’m not anywhere near as ready to jump at danger as Della, and you’re pushing your legacy on the boys since I DON’T want that life.” Donald ran a hand down his face, defeated. “Since Della came back, it’s been tough.

“I’m glad that we’re a family again, but I’m starting to feel like I don’t belong. I can’t do anything right for the boys, I can’t keep a job, I can’t even afford to get my girlfriend a birthday present! Why even bother? I just don’t know how to move on with my life.” 

Scrooge sighed. “I think your life is off to a good start, lad.” It was Donald’s turn to be confused. He sure didn’t feel like anything was going well, and he didn’t know how he was going to hang on to the one thing that was right in his life if he couldn’t give her the love and care he wanted to. Daisy’s birthday coming up had been the final straw. 

“You can’t be serious. I’m a walking disaster.”

Scrooge continued. “I am serious, Donald. I may be the richest duck in the world, but you have one thing I don’t have.

I only have one regret in life. After all I’ve done, after how hard I worked, and all the adventures I’ve had, I can’t help but wonder what I missed out on by being selfish all those years. I’m never happier than when I’m with my family. I left family out of my life for so long, I forgot that it was the most important thing in the world to me. I never found someone to share my life with, to share everything with, and bless dear Hortense for deciding she wanted to be domestic, because it brought ye and Della into my life. Donald, ye still have the chance to...to let yer family grow. Make it yer own and add to it. In some ways, I envy ye for it.”

Donald stole a glance up at his uncle, eyes narrowed. “But you — you’re Scrooge McDuck! You know who you are! When I try to be myself, I just don’t know who I’m supposed to be. The kids have Della back, and you can take care of them and FEED them, which is something I could hardly do when they lived here. I want to be independent, I want to make my own way in the world, but it’s so hard when you’re...me.”

Realization dawned on Scrooge. Every rejection to take care of the boys, every declined invitation for family supper, every time Donald stayed behind on family adventures to go to a new job, was because he felt like he had something to prove. It broke Scrooge’s heart all over again. Donald worked hard and did the best he could, and was surrounded by those who loved him, didn’t he see that being Donald was enough? 

“Aye, but Donald, ye have passion, yer caring, and bless me bagpipes, do I know how thoughtful and loving ye are. I’m nothing without my family, and even with my family, I’m only half the man I wish I was. 

“But, dear lad, yer everything I wish I could be.” 

Donald lifted his head from the table, and rested his chin in his hands, elbows propped on the table. Softly, hesitantly, as if afraid for Scrooge to elaborate, Donald croaked out, “Do you really think that? I’m nothing special.”

Pulling him in for a tight hug Donald hadn’t quite expected, Scrooge whispered in his ear, “I don’t think that, I know that. Yer worth far more than ye give yerself credit for.

“And as for yer girlfriend, if she’s gotten yer affection, then she must be worth it.” Scrooge, ever tactful at avoiding feeling more than necessary, righted himself, leaving Donald slightly dazed at what his uncle said. “If she really likes ye, she won’t need anything fancy as her birthday present. Just make it something that comes from the heart, because I’m not about to loan you money to get this girl a birthday present,” Scrooge winked at Donald. “At least you’re better than Della, she just expects me to pay for everything! I’m not made of money. Erm, what did ye say yer lass’ name was?”

Donald chuckled, “I didn’t say. Her name is Daisy.” 

Scrooge used his cane to help himself rise from the table. “I’d like to meet this Daisy sooner than later. Maybe we can have a family game night?” Admittedly, Scrooge got far more satisfaction than he should have from the flash of terror in Donald’s eyes. 

Turning to go, Scrooge looked over his shoulder. “Ye have until dinner starts at 6:30 to tell the family how they’re going to meet this lovely young woman. Ye obviously have to get our approval before things get more serious.” Scrooge smiled as he heard Donald sputter behind him. “Take it easy lad, ye still have 15 minutes to figure that out.” He hadn’t felt so giddy in a long time. It absolutely tickled him to know that his nephew had a girlfriend, and was the perfect opportunity to tease him about something good for once. 

Scrooge was excited to meet the lass that had won his dear nephew over. Donald deserved to be happy, because being Donald, while certainly not the easiest thing, was rather admirable indeed.

OoOoOoOoOo 

“Okay Daisy, open your eyes!” Donald proclaimed as he let go of his girlfriend’s hands, waving them out in a flourish as he brought her to her birthday surprise. “Tada!”

Daisy smiled, a little confused, as she looked at Donald. “What’s all this?” 

“Well, this is my boat, I made it myself. Don’t worry though, it’s seaworthy. I thought maybe I could row you out to Downey Feathers Island and we could have a picnic out there? It’s not much, but I love the sea, and I want to share how special that is to me with you, and —“

Donald was interrupted by Daisy grabbing his shirt collar, giving him a passionate kiss on the beak. “Oh Donald, it’s more than enough. 

“Anything with you is absolutely perfect.”


	4. Part of the Family - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blessed interactions between Daisy and Donald, mostly focusing on how Daisy will meet the McDuck/Duck gang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are just too kind! Thanks for all the positivity and love for what I’ve made thus far. I’m motivated because I love to share with all you wonderfully supportive people! The next part coming up it gonna be three parts, so stay tuned for the other bits!

Donald had nearly twisted the life out of the already-dead daisies he had brought with him to the diner he and Daisy were going to have lunch. He adjusted the collar of the stylish button-down Daisy had made for him, unbuttoning the top button. He didn’t care if Dewey said that was the “cool” way to wear it, he was sweating bullets and swallowing was becoming absolutely suffocating. 

Just then, a chaste kiss met Donald’s temple. “Sorry I’m late!” Daisy slid in the booth across from him, offering no apologies or excuses as to why she had been late. That was just one of the many reasons Donald lov—liked Daisy. She was who she was, and that didn’t need an excuse. 

“These are for you, Dais!” Donald practically shoved the gorgeous African daisies her way. It was sweet how he brought a different kind of daisy for her every time they met up, but she was worried. Why was Donald so nervous? Was something wrong? Oh gosh, he wasn’t breaking up with her, was he? No, that was HER job, but things were going so well, was it the rassafrassin’ awkward double date they’d gone on the other night? She had been rather embarrassed for getting upset with Mickey for having a CUTE DUCK FRIEND that he hadn’t thought to bring up before, since “Donald didn’t seem like her type.” How did he just have someone like Donald in his back pocket and not bring it up? And Minnie knew Donald too! It wasn’t even a surprise double date like she’d planned! That was it. Her behavior had been far from ladylike and this was the end. Daisy felt nervous for herself now. 

“Thank you, Donald, they’re lovely.” Her face was as straight as she could manage. Cut to the chase, Daisy, don’t torture yourself over here. “Is something wrong?” Panic started to well up in Daisy’s chest. “Did I do something wrong?” 

Donald looked shocked. “What? No!! I just...wanted to ask you something.” Before he could begin, a waitress brought over her favorite salad for them to share as a starter. 

Ah, so he’s trying to butter me up. Oh Donald, don’t you know I’d do whatever you asked me? 

“Are you free tomorrow night?”

Donald’s question was, quite frankly, rather unexpected. “Well, of course I am, it’s Saturday, and it’s a holiday weekend, so I have some time off. I thought you already knew that though? Did plans change?”

Avoiding eye contact, Donald rubbed a hand up and down his arm, looking skittish. “Well, after I ask you a favor...you have every right to not be free tomorrow night.” 

Donald looked up. Daisy’s face was perplexed, perfect eyebrows scrunched together adorably in confusion. It made his heart melt. Ah phooey, no need to keep her waiting any longer. “My family wants to meet you. I told them potentially tomorrow night.” Upon being met with silence, Donald quickly added a qualifier. “If you’re not ready then that’s absolutely fine! I don’t want to make any assumptions, but I hadn’t even TOLD Scrooge we were dating until earlier this week. My family is a lot. I love them to death but I want you to be as comfortable as possible, which might need some, ah, easing in. I just know that meeting family is a pretty big deal, right? I...oh geez, I just don’t want to lose you over pushing you too far.” Donald’s face landed in his hands. 

He wasn’t expecting Daisy to burst out laughing. “You’re worried about that? Donald, you’re too sweet!” Wiping tears from her eyes from laughing so hard, she bombarded Donald with questions. “So, what are your plans for tomorrow night? Are you throwing together something at your place? Wait how many people will be there? FYI, I am free tomorrow night.”

Stunned, Donald didn’t know what to say. “Um, I haven’t thought that far ahead.” 

“Doooonaaaaald, I want to make a good first impression! Tell you what, I get off at 6 tonight, maybe you can swing by my place after that? You’re talking to quite the party planner, you know, and I would be more than willing to help.” 

“S-sure, I’ll see you at, uh, 6:30?” 

“Yes, I can’t wait!” Daisy was a force to be reckoned with, and all of a sudden, Donald was even more nervous of family meeting girlfriend - all of them were strong-willed, stubborn, and had big personalities. 

What had he gotten himself into?

OoOoOoOoOo

Donald pulled up to the small apartment complex on the outskirts of the city, where suburbs met skyscraper. It was hard to miss Daisy’s condo entrance: she had gotten permission to paint her door a light lilac color, and she had potted daisies of all varieties flanking the entryway. Donald parked his Audubon in visitor parking, and swallowing nervously, made his way up to the door. He knocked out of courtesy, even though Daisy had given him the spare key to her place weeks ago. “Can’t be too cautious, I don’t have family close by and I’d feel safer having someone I trust who can check up on me!” Donald smiled just thinking about it.

Daisy opened the door, smirking at him with a hand on her hip. “You could have just come inside, or I would’ve come out in a second.” 

“Well, call me old fashioned, but I didn’t want to startle you.” 

“Well come on in, I’m almost ready. You have a spare room, right?”

“...what?”

Daisy’s voice floated into the entry from her bedroom. “Well, if it’s alright with you, it might be easier if I stayed the night, maybe we could get dinner ready for tomorrow for everyone? I know you mentioned you liked to grill, and it’s perfect weather for it!”

Donald felt completely out of his depth. It sounded like a great plan, but he just didn’t know how this would all go. There was no avoiding keeping two such big parts of his life separate. How could he explain how nervous he was, and just how important it was that his family not only meet Daisy, but like her? Daisy meant so much to him, but his family was his whole world. 

A small duffle bag slung over her shoulder, Daisy came out of her bedroom. She noticed Donald’s tense shoulders, the vacant look in his eyes, his overall body language of someone uncomfortably deep in thought. “Donald?” She approached him gingerly, softly putting down her bag as she came over and pulled him into a hug. “Is everything alright?” 

Donald’s arms came up to hold her tightly, and what came out of his mouth next surprised even him: “I love you.” 

It was a soft, tender, quiet declaration, but one that made Daisy melt into a puddle all the same. She kissed him gently, a bit dazed. “What brought that on?” 

Donald told her. He told her how he loved his family, and how Daisy felt like family and home. He told her he was nervous. He told her the ways she made him feel special. If his family was his whole world, Daisy felt like the universe. And he wanted everything to go well. She was too important to lose, and he wanted her to feel all the love and acceptance she deserved. 

Daisy kissed him deeply and savored the moment. 

OoOoOoOoOo

Late in the evening, after grocery shopping and a walk in the park, Donald and Daisy snuck up to the houseboat, hand-in-hand under the glow of the moon and the brilliantly bright stars. Daisy helped put away groceries, Donald carried her overnight bag to the boys’ old room. Everything was comfortable and felt so right. After everything was put in its rightful place, they decided to watch a movie, a brief break before big preparations went down tomorrow. Snuggling up to Donald as if she belonged there, since she did, Daisy kissed his cheek. 

“I’m excited for tomorrow. And for the record, I love you, too.”


	5. Part of the Fam — Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Della takes a look at how she views Donald as a brother. She really needs to make it up to him somehow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another part to this meeting the fam little story arc. We need Daisy to meet the whole family together! Sorry for the delay! My pet got sick and I had to take care of him :)

It was a gorgeous day out, and Webby had everything prepped for Killer Darts out in Scrooge’s hedge maze. She just needed to find some teammates...

The boys weren’t in their room, and they weren’t in the entertainment room, but when she came to three oddly-shaped lumps behind a curtain on the main floor, she couldn’t help but wonder what the triplets were doing.

“Hey guys, do you want to play Killer Darts? Why are you behind the curtain? Did you break something? C’mon, it’s a Saturday, let’s go outside! It’ll be more fair if Louie’s on my team, you —“

“SHHHH!” All three boys simultaneously cut Webby off. 

Dewey piped up, “Mom is absolutely ripping into Uncle Donald right now, and if we’re reeeally quiet, we can hear them shouting through the glass.”

“...Couldn’t you just, like, hide in the bushes or something? Wouldn’t that be easier?” Webby’s question was answered with a crash, Donald’s indoor AC unit flying out the houseboat window and into the hedges. 

Without taking his eyes away from the train wreck before them, Huey needlessly added, “probably not.”

“Well, do you have any idea what they’re fighting about this time?”

OoOoOoOoOo

Saturday morning came around, sunlight peeping through the slats in the boys’ blinds on the houseboat. Daisy was comfortably snuggled up in the bottom bunk, blearily lifting her sleep-heavy eyes as she remembered where she was. 

It was going to be a busy day, so she had better get a move on. Anything to help distract her from last night. 

She sighed as she got her things together to take a shower. Last night had been wonderful, she had told Donald she loved him, and while some may think it hasty, it felt like the most perfect time to say it to the most perfect man. Except for the fact that he couldn’t pick up on any gosh darn hints. 

Not that they had talked about going further (which was just fine!), but had Donald asked her to come to bed with him...no, they’d put fresh sheets on the twin bed in the bottom bunk, she had been the one to ask about a spare room, and if she had really wanted it, she was Daisy Duck, and Daisy got what she wanted. Gosh, why was she so shy about all of this? It was the first time a man had gotten her so flustered. Maybe she should take that as a good sign of where things were going. 

Letting her mind wander, wondering if the twin bed should actually be called a triplet bed in this scenario, Daisy slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day. It was still early, and she wasn’t ready for Donald to see her before she got herself put all together yet. Hopefully, by the time she’d finished, they’d be ready to prepare for a wonderful day meeting his family. They sounded delightful, and if they were anything like Donald’s kids she’d already met...they were looking like great in-law material. A girl had to prepare for those thoughts about the future. 

She began humming idly, when she thought she heard a muffled voice from the other side of the bathroom door. Her suspicions were confirmed when there was a loud rapping, followed by slightly louder speaking noises. She finished rinsing off, stepped out of the shower, and used the towels so graciously provided her to wrap her hair up in and to cover herself modestly. 

Daisy was ready to peek her head around the door, telling Donald she’d be ready soon and the bathroom could be all his, but she was not prepared to meet another duck face to face. 

Another FEMALE duck. 

Daisy sized her up. Did she have competition? It didn’t seem possible, because she and Donald spent so much freaking time together. At least Daisy was prettier than she was, and they both looked at each other in shock as Daisy let jealousy stew inside her. 

“Ex-cuuuse me, but I’d like a bit of privacy.” Horrifying scenarios flashed through her mind, oh gosh, what if she was the other woman? What if Donald never invited her over because he had a whole other life? All his reasons seemed so plausible given his interesting circumstances (who else lived on a houseboat in their uncle’s pool?) but now she couldn’t be sure. 

The other woman just stared at her, until she practically screamed over her shoulder in anger, “DONNIEEEEEE!!!”

Daisy heard a thud and a squawked curse from Donald’s room as he quickly ran out after apparently being woken up for the day. “Della, what are you doing here at this time of day...?” Donald’s beak went pale as he was met with his girlfriend and his twin staring each other down. 

Oh. Realization dawned on Daisy. He had said Della, and that was the name of his sister. This had to be his twin. This was not the kind of first impression that she wanted to make, she’d been so RUDE without even thinking about it, and she was fresh out of the shower, at a man’s house for crying out loud. This didn’t look too good. 

It especially didn’t look too good now that Della and Donald were staring each other down like cowboys getting ready for a high noon shootout. They looked nearly identical in twin stances of anger. Both had their arms crossed tightly over their chest, glaring daggers at the other across the room. 

“You PROMISED,” Della spat with every ounce of contempt and anger she could muster. 

Donald sighed, and shot a glance at Daisy. “Why don’t you finish getting ready in the bathroom? You know I have a temper, and I’d rather you didn’t see what might happen next.” 

Daisy’s eyes widened as she retreated into the bathroom. She wasn’t sure she was ready for whatever storm was coming, and taking shelter seemed like a good call. 

OoOoOoOoOo

As soon as Daisy shut the door timidly, Della was at Donald’s throat. They glared each other down, anger getting the best of both of them. Donald knew where this was going, and it was all a big misunderstanding. How DARE Dumbella think he would be so irresponsible, so inconsiderate, as to not honor her wishes? His family was the only reason he hadn’t moved forward with his relationship with Daisy. 

“Donald Fauntleroy Duck, you PROMISED you wouldn’t spend the night with Daisy until I got to know her! How dare you bring her over here!” Della’s voice was raised, and she was unfortunately squarely in Donald’s kitchen. She started grabbing anything within reach, her voice raising as she hurled cutlery, pots, pans, and whatever else was deemed dangerous enough to do damage. 

“Della, would you just listen to me!” 

She was starting to throw bigger things now, and her voice kept getting louder. “You’re setting a TERRIBLE example for the boys, you know that? Having a girl over, going back on your stupid word, ugh, what the heck is wrong with you?” 

She grabbed his shoulders, and after a few undignified squawks, Donald and Della started to get physical. Donald landed a punch on Della’s arm, but the momentum from the swing landed him squarely on this jaw on the floor. Della took the opportunity to hoist Donald’s AC unit from the wall, taking aim for his head. For how clumsy he was though, Donald was resilient and surprisingly fast, running around to try and dodge Della’s blows. 

Unfortunately, that’s when the AC unit flew through the kitchen porthole, narrowly missing Donald’s head. That’s when he knew he had to escalate matters. Della was pinned in a chokehold before she knew it, forgetting that Donald had had military training back in the day. Gosh, had it really been that long ago that he had been in the Navy? She had to remind herself sometimes that it had been almost 12 years since she had first gotten stranded on the moon. Wait, what had happened to Donald’s military career?

Donald stared her down while Della was still pinned to the floor. “If you would listen for ONCE, you might have figured out that Daisy spent the night in the boys’ room.” 

Della’s eyes went wide in embarrassment. “She’s helping me get everything ready for the family to meet her tonight, Dumbella! We didn’t do ANYTHING last night. C’mon, you know me better than that! Or maybe you forgot what I was like after all that time apart. I’ve changed and I’m responsible and you have to accept that!”

Della swallowed in both embarrassment AND guilt this time. Donald was right, he was totally old fashioned and wouldn’t have the guts to pull anything with Daisy after Della had threatened him. They’d had a deal — Donald wouldn’t do anything, ehm, mature with Daisy until Della had the chance to get to know her. And Donald had promised he wouldn’t pull anything, especially after what had happened with that no-good palooka that had run as soon as the triplets were officially on their way. Oh. Oh, she might be a little overprotective because of what had happened to her, but Donald was obviously different than her. 11 years of difference. He was probably far more responsible than he had been back when they were dumb young adults in their twenties. Donald didn't deserve to be the source of her frustration and projection. She was just a concerned older sister, that's all. She went slack as she decided it was probably time to stop fighting and listen to Donald. 

“Look, Della, I’m not gonna pretend everything between us is alright. I have a lot to be angry about with you. You didn’t even think to check your crash site after you came back, and no one bothered to look for me after I was missing for over a month. So what gives? Can’t you trust me to take care of this relationship on my own?” 

Oof. Della didn’t know what to say. Guess she didn’t have to, because she heard the bathroom door creak open. 

Daisy walked out, and Della immediately saw Donald soften at the sight of her. She was pretty cute, Della had to admit, in her denim cutoffs, oversized gingham button-down, and a messy bun tied up with a bandana. “It’s not like we could have pulled off anything anyway, Donald sleeps in a hammock!” Daisy winked at Della. Daisy approached the two of them, and put her delicate hands on Donald’s shoulders. “Don, sweetie, maybe you should get off your sister.” 

Donald took a deep breath, and the anger in his face immediately subsided. Huh, Della had never seen him calm down so quickly. She was really being dumb right now, wasn’t she? Donald seemed happy, in just the few moments she’d seen of him and Daisy together. 

Daisy looked at her. “I could hear most of what you were saying out here. You weren’t very subtle,” she chuckled. “But I do want you to know that Donald has been nothing but a gentleman to me, and he’s one of the best men I’ve ever met. Now, we have a lot of stuff to do before tonight, and I think I can forget about how you treated him and we can start over.” Della saw Donald smile up at Daisy again. Seems like this girl was smart and knew how to get things done, including getting her brother to see sense.

“Agh, sorry, I guess I just never really got to see Donnie here be responsible and sickeningly cute with anyone before. I’m just gonna, um, go, and Donald, we can talk more later. Maybe without me trying to throw stuff at you. You can 100% throw whatever you want at me though. I’m just, uh, gonna be leaving now.” Donald gave her a wink and a smile before Della turned around. Smiling sheepishly, she figured she should just let her brother be for once. He was doing just fine on his own. Della was embarrassed enough. Gosh, she had a lot to think about on how she treated her brother. Seemed like Donald needed more credit than he usually got, especially from his own family. 

Daisy definitely seemed wonderful. She couldn’t wait to get to know her better.


	6. Part of the Family — Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy (finally!) meets all of the Duck/McDuck squad. I’m sorry I can’t seem to write anything but fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! I can’t promise when I’ll get to update, but I’m glad I finally got to get this together! The positive feedback has been overwhelming — I promise I’ll respond to all of you! If there’s anything anyone is dying to see in future chapters, comment below!

Scrooge peered out his third floor office window (the one reserved for adventure planning) as he watched Donald grilling on the open deck of the houseboat. Being invited to a party in your own pool wasn’t necessarily strange, but he was a bit wary of the lass hanging onto Donald’s wing. Donald had seemed happier before it had been deduced that he had a girlfriend, but Scrooge still knew relatively nothing about this Daisy. Eyes narrowed, he watched as the boys and Webby hopped across the gangplank, Dewey and Launchpad barreling towards Daisy, Della reluctantly following behind. Spat-clad feet began to tap impatiently. Scrooge didn’t like to be late, but he wasn’t about to go aboard his nephew’s houseboat without intel first. 

It shouldn’t be taking this long, especially when he had good help. Where was...? 

Mrs. Beakley cleared her throat behind him. “Mr. McDuck.” 

“Ah, 22. What have ya got for me?” Emphasizing the codename might help set apart her feelings on the matter, right?

Beakley was stoic, though the flash of annoyance in his old friend’s eyes betrayed her. She was cold and professional as she delivered information: “Ms. Duck has a completely clean record. Despite a very brief fling with Gladstone Gander, everything about her seems normal. She’s an accomplished woman with a BFA in design with a minor in business, she speaks Italian and French, and in recent months has been offered to become an entity at Blue Jay Crew, Nieman Barkus, Storks Fifth Avenue, and Yap enterprises for her upcoming fashion collections for women, in both evening and casual wear. She’s currently being fought over in a bidding war amongst all those companies, and I don’t need to tell you what a big deal that is. Everything about her checks out.” 

Scrooge nodded his head thoughtfully, calculating how he would approach this young woman. However, he wanted to go to Donald’s without Beakley judging him the whole night. “Ye know I did what I had to.” 

Beakley sighed. “Donald and I might not see eye to eye, but I beg you, do not push him away by being overprotective. I know you lost Della once, but scaring away Donald’s girlfriend could have dire consequences.” She pursed her lips. “...You know I learned that the hard way.” 

Scrooge turned a steely gaze in Beakley’s direction. What had happened to Webby’s parents...had been disastrous, and he saw the point his old friend made. Still...”I jus’ want him to be safe and happy, since Donald doesna want to keep,” he flailed his hands around, “adventuring like the rest of the family. And it’s been a long time since I’ve tried to be Donald’s definition of normal. I wanted information to be prepared for that.” Scrooge walked forward, and held out an arm to Beakley. “Thanks for yer help. Would you allow me to escort you to Donald’s?”

Beakley scoffed, linking her arm in Scrooge’s. “Since you won’t admit that this is one of the first times you’ve been nervous in your life, and you don’t want to go alone, I suppose so.”

“Was I really that obvious?”

“Only to me.”

OoOoOoOoOo

Donald wasn’t sure if he wanted to strangle someone, jump for joy, or throw up. Maybe all three simultaneously? He hadn’t had everyone on the boat before, and thanks to the godsend that was Daisy, things were going smoothly, until Dewey came up to him and not-so-subtly asked: “When you and Daisy get married, can I plan the whole thing? No offense to you Uncle D, but you have like, no taste except in women and I have SO many amazing ideas.”

It had been so casual, just thrown out there, and Donald couldn’t get it out of his head. The idea both terrified him and thrilled him. Not that he hadn’t entertained the idea (he couldn’t count the number of times he’d fantasized life with Daisy), but it reminded him of how fast everything was happening, and the scariest part was? He didn’t mind it. He wanted everything with Daisy, he wanted her, he wanted to make her happy and spend every day with her. Distracting himself from the mix of emotions inside him, Donald busied himself in the kitchen doing...something. Anything. He just needed a second alone. 

His thoughts drifted to how things were going tonight. If he could ground himself in the present, his heart might stop tumbling in his chest. Everyone loved Daisy. Why wouldn’t they? She was so good with people, and her meticulous planning of a family get-together had been designed to make him feel comfortable, ready for any scenario. Except maybe the scenario where everyone wanted him to marry Daisy. 

That was a good sign though, right? 

Donald dished up potato salad, corn on the cob, and other summery barbecue treats to put on the table. He was so focused on the task at hand, attempting to distract himself, that when someone came over and hip-checked him, he let out a squawk and overall made a scene as he fell on the ground, the fruit bowl he had been working on landing like a helmet as it spilled its contents all over himself and the wooden floor. 

Della winced from above her brother, the guilty culprit of the situation below her. “Sorry Donnie, I’ll help you clean this up.” Della called over her shoulder, “I got this!”

“Thanks, Dumbella,” Donald grumbled. 

They awkwardly and wordlessly began picking chunks of watermelon and pineapple off the floor, Della wetting a dishrag to clean the sticky off of everything, including her brother. “Daisy is really something, huh?” Della asked, dabbing at Donald’s juice-soaked shirt, avoiding eye contact. 

Donald let out a raspy chuckle. “Don’t you think I already know that?” 

“It’s just...so wild to me that she’s just willing to be involved in the family, you know? She’s already promised Huey help earning his Entrepreneurship Badge, she and Louie are gonna have a marathon of some show they both like, I think it’s called Roman Empire? Eh something like that. She’s listening to flashy campaign ideas for her business from Dewey, and like, making them good, and she and Webby are talking self-defense strategies. Did you know she’s working towards her black belt in karate, and is a certified yoga instructor? Seriously, she’s taking on all the kids at once, and doing a darn good job of connecting with all of them. And it’s only been 15 minutes. You sure you didn’t pay her to say all those things, and you didn’t hire her a couple days ago? You’re not making this up, are you?” 

Donald took on a dreamy, almost dazed look. “She almost seems to be too good to be real sometimes, I’ll admit. I don’t know what she sees in me. Although funny you should bring up the yoga, she does it to help control her temper. She’s as bad as Mom was. So, I guess there’s one thing wrong with her? But it doesn’t feel that way. She makes me feel...less alone in the world.” Donald blushed, and Della wanted to punch him. What a sap. She was genuinely happy for Donald and his sickeningly adorable relationship. 

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named never tried this hard to be part of the family. He was gone as soon as I told him I was probably carrying eggs. Daisy’s...different. If you ever break up, I’m gonna have to take drastic measures to make sure she stays part of the family. I’ll disown you or something, and I’ll adopt her as my own sister.” 

“Don’t tease me like that! I would rather hunt down the Unfound Aircraft of Amelia EarHart than be related to you.” 

“You know you love me.” 

Donald waved his hand in a so-so gesture before Della slugged him. He let out a raspy chuckle. “Well, you’ll be glad to know that I don’t plan on Daisy not being a part of this family...”

Della’s eyes widened. “Is that a roundabout way of saying...? Oh my gosh, please let her be my sister. I’ve waited for that since I figured out I didn’t have one hatching next to me in the cradle.”

“You’re only five minutes older. It’s not like you knew what was going on back then.” 

“Whatever. Just don’t screw this up, ‘kay Donnie?” 

All Donald could do was hug his twin. Even though she grumbled that she was getting fruit juice all over her aviator’s jacket, he knew she wouldn’t let him touch her if Della wasn’t at least somewhat pleased. Her approval of Daisy meant the world to him. 

Now, it wasn’t like Scrooge to be this late. Where was he? 

In response to Donald’s thoughts, he was met with the sharp rapping of a cane against the door.

OoOoOoOoOo

Daisy wasn’t nervous at all to meet most of Donald’s family. 

She’d already met Dewey and Louie, and Webby and Huey were just adorable. Though she didn’t quite know what Launchpad’s relation was to the family, she really enjoyed the sweet guy’s company. And after getting a disaster that was bound to happen out of the way with Della that morning, Daisy could seriously see herself getting along very well with her, like she was a sister. 

However, she was terrified of coming face-to-face with Scrooge McDuck, legendary Adventure Capitalist. 

It was almost as if he was late on purpose. He was trying to get her on edge, keep her on her toes, catch her off guard with the silliest little comments and details when she was already a nervous wreck on the inside. 

A couple of weeks into being officially Donald Duck’s girlfriend, she’d caught Donald in the background of a news broadcast detailing how Scrooge planned to invest and uncover more secrets. When she had asked Donald if he maybe worked for Scrooge, since he seemed to be on the inside, she had not been prepared for the answer she got. 

“Um...Scrooge’s my uncle...”

Donald had told her everything. She had to admit that his past with his uncle and going on adventures gave Donald some added attractiveness, but she didn’t know how to feel about Scrooge himself. The more she heard about him, the more he lived up to his notorious business acumen and adventurous spirit. He was tougher than the toughies, smarter than the smarties, and sharper than the sharpies. 

So no matter how prepared she thought she might have been, Daisy was not prepared to meet the great Scrooge McDuck. 

He arrived with a woman who looked like she bench pressed ladies Daisy’s size for a pre-workout warmup. Awesome. This old guy was great at intimidating people. He wouldn’t stop staring at Daisy, gaze as steely as his legendary number one dime, as unreadable as the convoluted tax break forms for all the work he did in Duckburg. She glanced and saw Donald and Della take notice, and their faces seemed to grow paler by the second...why would they be nervous? 

Someone cleared their throat from Daisy’s right. She hadn’t seen Scrooge coming, but she was both terrified and unsurprised that he had made a beeline straight for her. “I assume yer Daisy, lass?” 

Daisy shot out of her spot in Donald’s kitchen table booth, flustered, but prepared to win Scrooge over. “I mean, I guess so, unless Donald’s been bringing other girls around, eh heh...?”

Attempting humor had been a poor choice, because Scrooge narrowed his eyes at her disapprovingly. “Are you callin’ me nephew a terrible two-timer?” He nearly whispered. 

Rassafrassin’ big mouth, rassafrassin’ sass, rassafrassin’...

“Care to come with me for a moment?” Scrooge turned on his heel, and despite the terror she felt, Daisy couldn’t help but notice that he was wearing spats. What outdated taste, who the heck still wore spats..? 

As Daisy followed Scrooge out to the deck of the boat, she realized she had another strike against her, because as she was contemplating the fashion disaster of spats, Scrooge had started to ask her questions. Leaning against the gunwale and his cane, Scrooge looked at her expectantly. 

“I...I’m so s-sorry, can you repeat yourself...?”

Scrooge burst out laughing. “Oh, ‘m so sorry to make ye so uncomfortable, lass, but it was worth it to see the look on me dear nephew’s face!” 

Daisy joined in, although with shorter, more spastic and confused chuckles, as what might have just happened sunk in. 

“Ye have to understand, I helped raise the boy, and I just get so few chances to tease him, because he’s, well, Donald.” 

Ooo, that did it for Daisy. She was sick of hearing about laughs at Donald’s expense, sick of seeing him fail over and over again, sick of seeing his confidence dip every time he shrugged and said, “Well, that’s just part of being Donald Duck.” She saw red as she stated, as coolly as she could, “Well, I don’t think it’s very funny to have a laugh at Donald’s expense.” 

Scrooge looked taken aback as she realized that she had just spoken out against the Richest Duck in the World, and her words had practically come out as venom. She tried to backpedal, but all that came out were squeaks of apology. 

However, Daisy was speechless as soon as she realized that Scrooge looked...pleased with her? “Bless me bagpipes, ye remind me so much of my late little sister, I like ye already.”

“...Really?”

“Anyone that can make Donald this happy is someone worth liking in my books. Although, I do still have some questions for ye, I wasn’t lying about that part.” 

Daisy, feeling more at ease, mirrored Scrooge’s body language by leaning against the gunwale, and sidling up next to him. Still a little nervous, she wanted to put herself at the same level as Scrooge. It was a confidence booster tip she had learned from the various interactions with the powerful and influential as an assistant to Emma Glamour. “Only if I get to ask you a few, too.” 

“Ah, that’s only fair. What do ye do fee a living?” 

Daisy looked him over, scrutinizing Scrooge. “You don’t honestly expect me to believe that you haven’t at least Waddlebook stalked me or talked to Donald about me?” 

“Good. I like a gal who can think on her toes, and read people well. And for the record, I think you should look into partnerships for your evening wear lines. Blue Jay Crew and Yap aren’t the most stable at the moment.”

Well. Daisy hadn’t thought Scrooge would do that much homework, but she wasn’t going to let him know he had the upper hand. “I’ll take your input into consideration. Why the interest in what I do?” 

“I like knowing yer passionate about what you do. Always makes me happy to see people making it doing what they love. And...I want to know why an accomplished young woman like yerself hasn’t been snatched up yet.” 

It was a good question. One that helped him figure out what exactly she saw in Donald. “Well, simply put, no one compares to Donald. No one is as genuine as him, and no one has been able to handle me quite yet. I’m a bit “too much,” I think, in every sense of the word. Too short-tempered, too quick to talk, too career driven...I guess Donald sees me as an equal and can handle it, you know what I mean?” 

Scrooge looked off into the setting sun, a faint smile pulling at the edges of his beak. “I know exactly what you mean. Donald’s not just one of the good ones, he’s one of the great ones.” Scrooge put an arm around Daisy’s shoulders, and squeezed her in a short, tight, awkward hug. “You don’t know just how much you’ve done for him.” 

OoOoOoOoOo 

When Daisy and Scrooge walked back inside, it was arm in arm, and Donald couldn’t be more thrilled to hear Daisy’s easy, tinkling laugh while she and Scrooge talked. She threw an excited smile his way, and excused herself as she went to sit down with the kids and Della. Scrooge made his way over to Donald, and pulled him off to the side, away from the rest of the family. 

Donald, a mix of nerves and giddiness, waited expectantly for Scrooge to say the first word. 

He looked sternly at Donald, but his eyes betrayed him as they sparkled with excitement. “If ye don’t marry that girl, yer definitely out of the will this time.”


	7. Life Goes on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going well for Donald. A little too well. Things have to go south soon, because he's Donald F. Duck. Luckily, he'll always have Daisy by his side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is as close to angst in the series of one shots as I think I'll get, but this is all so I can focus on how great Donald and Daisy are together. Their "weaknesses" are strengths, and they compliment each other so well. This is a development of that relationship, and there will be a lot left up to the imagination here! Thanks for reading and your continued support! I just love these cartoon ducks so much and want to share how I feel about them with all of you

Everything had been going smoothly the past few days, and that worried the guy ”with all the bad luck,” as a stupid ditty from his college days used to go. He still thought about it every time some dumb little episode wrecked his day, with Josè, Panchito, and Mickey chiming in in the background. Anyway, nothing ever went this right for this long, and Donald couldn’t help but be on edge. The IKEA bed frame he’d gotten was put together without a finger being driven through a nail, his last job interview had ended with a warm handshake, and everyone in his family loved Daisy Duck, the woman of his dreams. 

Day five of things going “normal” really had Donald suspicious. Things were going so well with Daisy, and he was just waiting for the minute she would realize he was too sensitive, too emotional, too fiercely overprotective. She would leave him, because that would be Donald’s true normal. He felt that, to some degree, the four months he and Daisy had been together, every interaction with her, only went well because if Donald were to finally let his guard down, the universe would drop-kick him into heartbreak. 

Except when he was actually with Daisy...she made him melt. She was everything to him, which was why at the end of every date, when he texted her to thank her for the good time, doubt snuck in and squeezed at his heart. But the telltale three dots never led to a text that made him feel like he missed the last step on a staircase. Just genuine happiness and love and everything that made Daisy special. His heart couldn’t take the roller coaster anymore. 

Coincidentally, Donald’s good luck ended that afternoon. 

The kids and Della had gone off with Scrooge, and he figured he could install his new AC unit (courtesy of Della, who had thrown the other one out the kitchen window a couple of weeks ago). Bustling around the houseboat, Donald didn’t even realize Della had come onboard until she tapped him on the shoulder, startling him into falling flat on his backside in his toolbox. 

“Geez, can’t a sister talk to her brother without him falling down?” Della offered by way of greeting, along with one of her hands to help Donald up. 

His eyes narrowed. “I thought you went with Scrooge.” 

“Eh, I changed my mind at the last minute. We still need to talk about how you feel with me having been gone for so long and all that jazz. Remember that one time I threw your AC out the window? Good times, huh?” 

“Well, where do you want to start?”

Della looked at her feet, pigeon-toed webbed foot and prosthetic shuffling nervously. Her thumbs twiddled, fiddling with the end of her scarf. Della hardly ever acted nervous or hesitant. “Della? Is something up? What’s the big idea?”

Though concerned for his sister, he wasn’t prepared for the sucker punch coming his way when Della delivered everyone’s least favorite words:

“We need to talk. Donnie, I really don’t want to, but I want you to hear me out.”

OoOoOoOoOo 

Della Duck had always been reckless, diving into danger headfirst because she got a thrill out of the adrenaline rush. She was optimistic about life and the people she interacted with. For those reasons and more, Della made Donald weary. She was too trusting, too caring, and the way that she interacted with the world around her led to danger, both physically and emotionally. 

And Donald was always the one picking up the pieces for the both of them, because he had accepted long ago that the world was out to get him. 

It was out to get him when their parents had been ripped from their lives in a plane crash as kids, the skilled piloting of his father not enough to bring them safely home – he’d always been bitter that his dad didn’t just stick to accounting for Scrooge. It had been out to get him when he realized Scrooge’s adventuring was balancing constantly between life and death as a young adult, when he stood by watching Della follow in Scrooge’s reckless footsteps, only caring for the adrenaline and gold and notoriety that came with adventuring – Donald just wanted to make sure his family was safe, never wanting them out of his sight. It had been out to get him when his sister had been lost to the stars because she had been too impatient for adventure, not even caring that her eggs were days away from hatching – the next adventure had been all that mattered, and that final argument they’d had led to Donald’s intense need to make sure the boys didn’t just have the stars, but lived to see them too. 

Though life was still out to get Donald Duck, he didn’t stop getting back up, and everything had changed as soon as the boys came into his life. Huey, Dewey, and Louie had become everything to him. Donald was known to lose his temper, but for their sake, he went to therapy and tried to control it. He felt like a mess when dealing with PTSD brought on by a combination of his time in the Navy, what happened to his parents, and being Scrooge McDuck’s nephew, but he had been able to cope for the boys. Anything that could have caused stress in Donald’s life had been rewired so that he was a loving, caring, emotional machine, ready at any moment to spring into action to defend what mattered most: his family. And of course, that love and instinct had multiplied tenfold after he let his family grow, letting Scrooge be his second father, Webby the daughter he’d never had, Launchpad a little brother, Beakley the cool aunt. 

Letting Della be his sister again wasn’t terrible, but letting her be mother to her own boys...was complicated. 

Huey, Dewey, and Louie were Donald’s kids. Legally, he’d adopted them when it had been ruled that they had been abandoned, and he had been granted full custody in courtroom battles that argued his temper made him unfit to raise children. Emotionally, he’d seen them grow; was there when they hatched, was there for their first steps and first words, was at every PTA meeting, sporting event, school activity, and provided the triplets the love and care that they needed to the best of his abilities. But he never let them call him “Dad.” Maybe it was in the hope that Della would come back, because she was their mother by blood, and maybe she wouldn’t be lost forever. 

When he was faced with it, though, Della was a terrible mother. She was trying, and Donald didn’t want to hold a grudge, but she still had over a decade of Donald playing parent to make up for. She hadn’t been there to kiss away the black eye Louie had gotten in first grade, defending his uncle with the weird speech impediment when he had brought cupcakes to the class party. She hadn’t been there when Huey had been the youngest Junior Woodchuck to receive a badge in history, being only four when he had started to show an interest for himself in learning about the world around him. She hadn’t been there when Donald had scrimped and saved to get Dewey a camera that he could use to film his little escapades, seeing the look on his face and the tears of happiness in his eyes. She was trying, but in Donald’s heart, he didn’t think she would ever be able to truly make up for over a decade of lost time. She’d only been there a few months. 

So Donald was vastly unprepared for Della to ask him if she could have legal custody of the kids again. 

Apparently she had been working with some of Scrooge’s lawyers, and there was a loophole in cases of abandonment for children. She could regain legal guardianship, because Donald had mostly only been there to care for the boys as a last-will-and-testament kind of situation. She’d never died, she’d never verbally given up rights or written it down which was how most abandonment cases went in childcare. She could have her family back again the way she wanted it to be. 

As Della rambled, since she didn’t seem to ever pick up on the fact that talking only got her in deeper trouble, Donald recovered enough to start seeing red. Every other emotion he could have felt was replaced with his fight or flight default: anger. Scathing, burning, seething anger. 

Breathing heavily, sure that steam was blowing out of his ears, in barely contained rage, Donald could only respond with one word he could spit out before he exploded: “Leave.”

He’d never seen Della so scared by one of his outbursts. Good. Let her know how much it hurt. She was throwing away everything he had done to be enough for the boys, and she couldn’t just waltz in and take that stability away from them. From HIM. She had gone behind his back and Scrooge had actually funded the legal consultations. There was another person taking away control from the safety and home he had so desperately built up. “Get OUT!!!” He said more forcefully, fists flailing, grabbing at anything that might help keep him grounded in reality. Della backed up, eyes wide, as Donald had a full on anger attack. Her heart broke when she saw Donald sobbing on top of everything else, completely hysterical and not to be reasoned with. 

She backed into the door, searching desperately for the handle, just trying to get out. As she finally fumbled outside, Della couldn’t help but feel numb. The door was closed in her face, but she couldn’t help standing, beak agape, thinking about what this was doing to Donald.

She had just gotten her brother back. Whatever had happened in there, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him, too. 

OoOoOoOoOo 

When Donald was fifteen minutes late, Daisy was only slightly annoyed. Sure, it wasn’t like Donald to be late, but he usually said something to her to let her know what was up. 

It was date night, the night before Daisy had a day off of work. Their schedules were so hectic, it was the only plausible time they could set aside for real, bonafide dates. And Donald insisted that he take her on real dates, get to know her, spoil her the best he could, treat her better than she’d ever been treated by a man. He was a gentleman through and through, and date night was always the best night of the week. She loved that sweet, sweet sailor, but why the heck was he so late? Donald’s fashionably late was 5 minutes early, so she should have been worried. However, as minutes ticked by, Daisy herself just got more and more ticked. No text. No call. No responding to the ones she’d sent his way. _He’s probably just running late, there’s no reason to be so rassafrassin’ angry right now. _But she couldn’t help it. She was Daisy Duck, and the only people she knew who outdid her in the anger department were Donald and his family. She was sick of waiting, so she grabbed the keys to her Mini Coop and decided she would confront that late and lousy palooka and give him a piece of her mind.__

__45 minutes after date night should have started, Daisy buzzed into the gate at the infamous Killmotor Hill, and her anger only flared when she saw Donald’s Audubon in the massive driveway. She desperately tried to keep her anger in check, Donald probably has a perfectly good reason for being late, and made her way around to the backyard. Beakley had unlocked the gate there so she could easily get around back._ _

__Daisy marched up the gangplank and did her best not to break down the door with how hard she was knocking. A couple of minutes and a couple of knocks later, Daisy actually realized that maybe she should be really worried about Donald. She knocked again, and again, waiting for a response, when she decided she should break down the door for reasons other than anger. She let herself in without too much trouble, and went searching through the dark, somehow really depressing interior of Donald’s houseboat._ _

__“Don? Donald? Sweetie?” _Hmm, he wasn’t in his room, wasn’t on the deck, wasn’t in the bathroom… _____

____It left only one place for Daisy to look: the boys’ old room. Didn’t make much sense, seeing as the lights were off in there, but upon slowly opening the door, she was surprised to see a duck-shaped lump on the bottom bunk. In the dying light of the setting sun, she saw that Donald was facing away from the door in the fetal position. Something was seriously wrong._ _ _ _

____Dropping her bag and quietly slipping off her shoes, she fit herself into the space behind Donald, embracing him with her full body as their bodies fit together like they were made for each other. Daisy felt Donald’s tense shoulders relax as she stayed there, silent for five, ten, maybe even twenty minutes._ _ _ _

____“Hiya, toots,” Donald’s raspy voice, even rougher than normal with disuse, chuckled out as he signaled that he was ready to talk to Daisy. She kissed him on the back of his neck, letting him know she was there for him. “Wh-what time is it?”_ _ _ _

____“Late enough that I started to get mad that you were late for date night.”_ _ _ _

____She felt Donald wince against her. “‘M so sorry about that. It’s...it’s been a rough day.”_ _ _ _

____“I think I gathered that much. What happened?”_ _ _ _

____Donald moved to sit up. “I’m not so sure I’m ready to talk right now. Mind if we go on a drive?”_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____OoOoOoOoOo_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Donald’s car was parked near a pier at the marina, windows rolled down. Daisy marvelled at how the sea calmed Donald: every breath of sea air brought his breathing even with the gentle rolling of the tide. She wasn’t sure what to think, but as much as she wanted to say something, this time it felt like the best thing to do was wait until Donald talked first. She wanted to be blunt and to the point, but for the first time in a long time, she couldn’t think of the right words to say._ _ _ _

____“Della asked if I would give up custody of the boys so she would be their legal guardian again.”_ _ _ _

____Her eyes widened, heart sinking like an anchor. Daisy didn’t know the full extent of what this meant to him, but if there was one thing she knew about Donald F. Duck, it was that his family, especially those boys, were the whole world to him._ _ _ _

____Daisy started to get mad all over again. Donald was one of the best men she’d met, and she was sick of how his family was treating him. She’d seen glimpses of what wonderful people they were, but even wonderful people had their faults. She knew enough about Donald’s past to know why he didn’t like to adventure with his family, but also knew why he would go with them on occasion: he was scared of his family being reckless. She knew what the boys meant to Donald, and didn’t know how to handle the news that Donald had just delivered._ _ _ _

____“How about you tell me everything that’s on your mind.”_ _ _ _

____Donald told her everything. He was bugged by how upset he was about Della wanting her kids back, he was upset by the blatant ignorance of safety, but most of all, he felt that he was slipping from his family: they just didn’t connect with him, and he was too concerned to want to be with them, and he was alright with it. Donald poured his heart out, because he was just too tired to try and be guarded anymore._ _ _ _

____“All in all Dais, this is a lot to take in. I’m still trying to take it all in. I guess I just...needed to process it all. I hope that’s okay with you.” Donald winced away from her, and Daisy realized that he was scared of how she would react to everything he said. He didn’t have anything to worry about though, because Daisy had decided that she would be in this for the long haul. She wasn’t going anywhere, and she wanted Donald to know it._ _ _ _

____“Donald, let’s go back to my apartment. You’re welcome to stay over. Let me do something. Let me just take care of you. I want you to know that I’m here for you.” Nothing better than being straight, right?_ _ _ _

____And go back to her apartment they did. They snuggled on the couch, they ate root beer floats (she always had things stocked because she knew they were Donald’s favorite), and even though it wasn’t much, their evening together was all about letting Donald know he was enough, and she realized that maybe he was even everything that she needed._ _ _ _


	8. What Ever Happened to the Ducks?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Della and Daisy make some realizations that may or may not cloud their judgement. But whatever happens, these women just want to do the best they can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m baaaaaack. Sorry for the unintentionally long hiatus, but due to ye olde plague, pets dying, and much more jazz, my life went wild. I think I have a grip on it though! And I promise not to leave you lovelies on a cliffhanger for so long. The next part of this is almost done, so there’s the guarantee of that going up soon. This is a long boy to reward you for your patience, and it got broken up in two. 
> 
> Also...I struggled to get back to this because some people were really unhappy with the last chapter. I just want to remind you that this is a fanfic! It’s not always going to be an extension of canon, it’s more dealing with things that I know a kids’ show isn’t going to deal with. I did my best to explain the actions of some characters here, because the way and reasons they were acting the way they were was always my intent. I did my best at searching through Frank’s blog (although I took some liberties about when Della found out about her estranged family), fact-checking behaviors, and the works to make this something y’all will like. 
> 
> Now without further ado, the next chapter!

Two days. 

It had been two days since Della had even seen Donald, and she was starting to get worried. She had tried to go to the houseboat, and everything was dark, empty, and looked like a hurricane had blown through it. She knew she might make Donald mad, but she didn’t think he would be this mad. She was the one who had disappeared for a decade, and there were still a lot of things she was trying to get right — Being alone for that long gave a duck a lot of time to think, but not put those thoughts into actions. In a lot of ways, all the things she’d wanted to do were merely wishes, and she’d seen some of the consequences of that upon first coming home. She’d wanted to be everything for the boys all at once. They needed to know they were loved despite all she’d put them through by not being there. When she lost her family, she had vowed to protect them and never let them feel lost again. She wanted her family to be like she intended, wanting her babies to know she loved and cared about them, and she never, ever intended to leave them again. It had seemed perfectly logical to look into a way to make that sentiment tangible. 

Oh Donald. Looking through his house, cleaning up a bit because it was the least she could do, she saw hints of what might have made him the angriest she’d ever seen. Cute little drawings stuck to the fridge from when the boys were younger, Donald’s neat and squat writing at the bottom telling her when and who had created what. A marked up doorframe leading to the boys’ room showing their heights through the years, all the same until just recently, Huey gaining half an inch on the other boys. He was probably going to take after his dad, Della thought with a bittersweet smile. Pictures of him and the boys doing the everyday and mundane that she had longed to do herself, all documented in embarrassing ways, just as their dad would have done over the years. Goofy thumbs-ups and tight squeezes in the boys’ kindergarten “graduation” ceremony, what looked to be a fishing trip with Goofy and his son (GOSH when had Max gotten so BIG), the boys looking exasperated as some stranger took their photo while Donald scaled a cutout ‘Grand Canyon Cola’ bottle...Wait a second…

As Della looked through photos, she noticed that not one of them had Scrooge in them until recently. They didn’t even have the manor or Webby or any indication that they existed up until the boys looked like they did now. What in the world…?

A few weeks back, she had paid Scrooge a visit in his office, and asked if she could get some legal help in looking into custody of the triplets. He didn’t blink, didn’t ask questions, just recommended her to his legal team and told her he expected to be paid back. 

And now, here she was, alone in the giant manor, waiting for her family to come home. Della needed answers, and she was helpless. She was really starting to regret not getting a cell phone upon her return, like the boys had told her too…

It was the third day of Donald’s disappearance that her family finally came home. Della felt like she had worried a hole into the floor of her room with all her pacing. Question after question was eating her alive, so much so that she ran down the stairs as soon as the Cloud Slayer...er, Sun Chaser had a nearly smooth landing in the backyard hangar. 

Launchpad was the first to notice how quickly Della approached. “Uh, Ms. D! I promise it’s not too scratched u—“

“Can it, Launchpad, we can talk about that later. Just open the freaking cargo hatch so I can talk to my uncle.” 

Too stunned for words, and too confused to know what to think of Della’s outburst, Launchpad dutifully snapped his beak shut as he set everything in motion. Scrooge and the kids seemed in no hurry to take in their latest haul, easily strolling out of the cargo bay. Until they saw Della, arms crossed, gaze steely, prosthetic shaking from the shear amount of force she exerted in holding her stance. Tears were starting to brim at the rims of her eyes. 

Scrooge has only seen that look one other time from his little sister, Hortense. It chilled him to the bone to see Della this mad, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why. Unless…

“I talked to Donald three days ago and I haven’t seen him since. We need to talk. NOW.” 

Scrooge gulped, “Kids, Beakley and Duckworth will help you figure out where to put things. We’ll sort it all out later.”

“But Mom — what’s going on?” Huey called to her retreating back. Unfortunately, Della either didn’t hear or didn’t want to talk about it right now, and all she’d left behind was a baffled flock of ducklings. 

Dewey broke the silence first. “Wh-what just happened?” 

“Well, maybe because I’m more curious of what’s going down than trying to fix the problem, I think we should start at the source. And it seems like this all has something to do with Uncle Donald. Thank goodness he has a cellphone.” Louie started texting, the others gathering around him.

OoOoOoOoOo 

After Scrooge meekly walked into his office (and he’d never done anything meekly before), Della slammed the door shut. “Sit down at that desk and explain to me RIGHT NOW what I’m seeing.” 

Gingerly lowering his tail into his wing-backed swivel chair, Scrooge looked at the mess of photos haphazardly strewn across his desk. Some of them had cheap frames smashed to smithereens, glass shards barely hanging onto the edges of the frame cradle. Furrowing his brow in thought, the man smarter than the smarties and sharper than the sharpies was absolutely stumped. 

“Ach, I dunno, lass, what are Donald’s family pictures doing on me desk? What’s wrong with them?”

Della started crying, giant crocodile tears spilling down her cheeks. “Uncle Scrooge, why aren’t YOU in any of those photos?” 

Eyes widening, realization struck Scrooge. He felt a pit in his stomach as he nearly whispered…”Ye...ye don’t know what happened while you were lost?”

His niece looked tired, confused, spent, as she pinched the bridge of her beak. “Phooey, we’ve never been good at talking about anything that might be emotionally charged, and it seems like this is about to be emotional. What happened?”

OoOoOoOoOo 

The bus stopped near a series of posh condos on the outskirts of town. Led by Louie, hardly taking his eyes off his phone, the kids blindly followed, although a little confused at the confidence of knowing where he needed to be. 

“Uh, Louie? I know Donald wasn’t answering his phone, and talking to Daisy was the next logical step, but...how did you get her number and how do you know where she lives?”

“Well, my dear Hubert, I don’t think I need to tell you my methods. Just that they work. Aaaaaand here’s the place we’re looking for.” Louie stopped in front of a condo with cute little flower pots flanking the door, lilac paint accenting the perfectly cared for floral arrangements. 

The kids waited patiently as the doorbell chimed. Daisy opened the door, and looking down on them, offered a wan smile. “Glad you could find your way, guys.”

“I think your flowers are really pretty, Miss Duck. Pink’s my favorite color,” Webby commented as they crossed the threshold after Daisy featured them inside. 

“Oh gosh, call me Daisy, please. Now, I knew you were coming, but Donald didn’t. I’ll go grab him after I grab you guys some lemonade and cookies. I let him have full reign of the kitchen. Who knew Donald liked to bake?”

“Uncle Donald only bakes after he’s had a really bad day…” Huey muttered under his breath. If Daisy heard him, she shrugged it off, turning her back on the kids as she went into the other room. 

“Oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot what the heck do you think happened? If Uncle Donald bakes it takes him like, all day to make something since he keeps burning himself. How long do you think he’s been here?” Dewey worried his bottom bill, looking at his siblings with concern. 

No one had anything to say until they heard whispering around the corner. 

OoOoOoOoOo 

Daisy hadn’t minded Donald staying with her one bit the past few days. She’d used some PTO and found that taking care of someone she actually loved was way better than her day job. She couldn’t wait to have things take off to the point that she could be her own boss with her business. It would be so nice to work her own hours to spend time with people she loved.

She hadn’t realized her drive and career goals had isolated her from family and friends and personal connections. Not until Donald came into her life. He had been what was missing, and while the circumstances under being together the past few days were less than ideal, Daisy found herself craving being with Donald every moment she could. Well, at least while he was feeling so low. She did have her own life. Of course, some of her feelings could have had to do with the fact that Donald asked if he didn’t have to use the spare room in her condo…

Daisy was more in love with this man than anybody she had ever been with, and found that love didn’t come from doing fun things together, but being with a person and accepting everything about them. Donald awakened a primal need to protect and nurture inside of her she didn’t know she possessed, and this broken man was gonna know darn well she was in it for the long haul. 

When the kids had come, she steeled herself in front of the bedroom door. Would he be sad to have a reminder of what was going on? Or excited? Hurt? Daisy couldn’t make that decision for her sweet sailor, even though she didn’t want to see him in pain anymore. She entered the room without knocking. 

Donald was scrolling through her laptop at the desk in the corner, looking through accounting jobs on countless career sites. He hadn’t been sleeping well, and his matted feathers and sunken eyes were proof of that. She’d had a hard time getting him to eat anything besides forcing Donald outside to go to the grocery store with her. “Donald? You have a visitor. Or visitors, I guess I should say.” 

Donald snapped out of whatever reverie he had been in, and gave Daisy the sweetest, most tired smile she had ever seen. “Is that a good thing? Is it someone I’d want to see?” 

Daisy pulled him up by his rumpled tee collar. “I think so. But I’m a little worried at how you’ll react.” 

Donald wrapped an arm around her slender waist, and pulled her face close to his, searching her eyes and gauging what he might be facing. He softly kissed her beak. “As long as you’re with me, I’ll be fine. Please stay with me.” 

Walking into the hallway, Daisy responded. “I’m always going to stay with you.” 

Rounding the corner, Daisy carefully watched Donald’s expression. It went from forlorn to joyous in just a matter of seconds. “Kids?!!” 

The ducklings got up from the table, Donald swooping in and scooping all four of them into his arms. Daisy tried to ignore the flutter in her chest as she watched him rub his cheek against whoever was closest’s head, watching Louie fiercely holding onto his uncle’s hand, Huey pull back a bit to rub Donald’s back, Dewey firmly wrap his arms around his middle, and Webby practically crawling over him to get near a place where she could sit on Donald’s shoulders. 

“How long have you been here, Uncle D? What happened? Did we do something wrong?” 

Donald seemed to zone out for a second there, Daisy wondering if he was having one of his dissociative episodes. She was really poorly prepared to deal with mental stuff, and she was kicking herself for not thinking to ask what to do when this happened.

Luckily, Huey seemed to know what to do. “Uncle Donald, count to ten,” he whispered as he continued to rub circles on Donald’s back. These kids were special, Daisy thought, and decided right there that if anyone was gonna mess with her guy, especially when it came to how he felt about his family…

Ooo, she saw red just thinking about it. 

OoOoOoOoOo 

It was nearing dinner time, and Donald had taken the kids to the gloriously dumpy drive-in diner they’d had their first date at to chat with them. 

Daisy didn’t go with them, despite wanting to be with Donald through every minute of this weird time. Oh, she was devious, she thought to herself, she had played herself off coolly until they had left, when she had started rehearsing to herself what she would say to Della. She’d seen plenty of bear families, but she now truly understood the phrase “Mama Bear…” she would do anything to protect those she was looking out for. 

She knew she had to cool down, especially before having a civil conversation, but there was nothing civil about the situation. She felt chaotic, angry, but so so good as she contemplated what she would do to Della Duck. 

There was a knock at the door. _That’s weird, I thought Donald knew where the spare key was. Why wouldn’t he just come back in…?_

She opened the door without a second thought, but was met with a barrage of angry ones as she saw who was on the other side of her front door. 

Della.

She slammed the door in her face.

OoOoOoOoOo 

When Scrooge had told her that lots of phones these days had GPS location sharing built into them, Della had jumped on it. She knew just who to go to to figure out where Donald might be. Especially after she figured out that the boys were gone. 

“Hey LP, do you have Dewey’s number?” 

“Ms. D! Yes, of course I have the number of my best friend!”

“Scrooge said that you might be able to help me out. I guess phones can find your friends? Do you know how to do that?”

“Well, we SnapQuack a lot, and I think it’s on there. Although he said he might stop doing that if I kept sending him Quacks while driving…” Della had no idea what that meant, but she nodded politely as Launchpad navigated through his phone to a little yellow and white ducky ghost picture. He tapped it, and up popped a picture of Dewey dabbing. 

“Heh, classic Dewey, forgot to open my last 3 Quacks. But...ka-BAM! That’s where he is!” A little dot in the middle of a zoomed in map appeared, and Della realized she really needed to figure out how smart phones worked, because this map was way too foreign for her to read. 

“Erm, think you could take me there?”

OoOoOoOoOo 

Della found herself at a cute little complex, realization dawning on her that she was at Daisy’s place. _Doi._ Who else would have flower pots with daisies literally crowding the thing? She must have been really upset to not even consider that Donald would be with his girlfriend. 

She felt a twinge thinking about it. Donald has a girlfriend, and from what she inferred from her chat with Scrooge, it was his first attempt at any kind of dating since before she even left. She had been dead and her brother had stepped up and took care of her little family. Their little family. Everything else in life had been put on the back burner for Donald, and while she knew that he wouldn’t have it any other way when it came to how he felt about family, there were parts of him that he didn’t get to pay attention to. Something had changed in the brother she had left, and she had finally connected the dots. Donald didn’t want to lose his family to over-the-top adventures ever again. 

Neither did she. 

And now she realized she didn’t want to lose her family to try and make it the way that she wanted it. She had heard Donald complain about wanting the family to be normal, and with how she felt about wanting to have official custody of the boys, Donald’s wishes finally made sense to her. They had made mistakes and were dealing with trauma in their own ways, but Della hadn’t even thought about the fact that something may be wrong with her way of thinking. Nearly 11 years lost in space had a different effect on her than what Donald went through, but the Duck twins were so similar. They both wanted to protect their family in their own way. 

Therapy was still a thing, right? Maybe it was something to look into. 

Realizing she might look like an idiot for just standing there, Della gathered up courage to to knock on the door of Daisy’s condo. 

She absolutely had not been prepared to see Daisy open the door, only to see her anger ignite to a white-hot flame, and have the door slammed in her face in less than five seconds. 

Yup, Donald had been here, if there was any doubt about that.


	9. Reparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donald and Della make up, and both start to understand their place in the family a little more as they move forward with their new normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Here’s to finally having both Duck siblings on the same page about family, especially with everything that’s going down with F.O.W.L. That’s been laid out recently! I confess, I rewrote this a couple of times, because adventure and fun just don’t seem to mix with the emotional stuff I wanted to explore. We’ll get there, though! Slight trigger warning for brief episode of dissociation. Without further ado...

Daisy had to stop herself from pulling out her pepper spray or pocket knife or something because those were only for self-defense, and she could not be caught trying to harm her boyfriend’s twin sister. She didn’t want to hurt Della, but when people made her mad, it sucked that that was what her mind jumped to. Daisy sat seething for a second before she deemed herself ready to act civilly. Or, at least, ready to act in a way that wasn’t driven solely by anger. 

She opened the front door again, to see a perplexed, maybe even a little scared, Della. Good. Let her be scared of Daisy. Hell hath no fury like an overprotective girlfriend, and she had seen the temper the Duck family had. Oh, this would be fun. 

“Uh, h-hi, Daisy...is my brother here?” 

“No.” 

“Well, has he been here?” 

“Do you really expect me to believe that, after a couple of days now, you care about where Donald is?” Daisy’s voice was frosty at the edges. Della had always been used to boiling hot anger from her family, but this? This icy, cold, stinging anger? It was downright scary. 

“Daisy, please, I just want to talk to him.” All Della got in response was another stone-cold glare before Daisy turned abruptly from the door. But, she left it open, and Della scuttled inside. Was that an invitation to come in? Maybe it was better to ask for forgiveness later, because maybe she could figure something out about Donald from his girlfriend before she had to face the actual man. Maybe. 

She ventured past the little kitchen with a bar, a plate of cookies and pitcher of lemonade halfway gone. She moved past a kitchen table, littered with a cutting mat, clear ruler, sketches and pattern paper. And then she came to Daisy’s living room. 

Everything about it looked cozy, cute, and utterly inviting. Decorated in mustard yellow, lilac, gray, and burgundy, Della was astounded that those colors would look good together. Creativity had always been a mystery to her when it came to tangible things, but she was really impressed by the eclectic style in the room. Daisy truly was a designer. However, in the corner in a comfy looking armchair, she was met by the uninviting glare of Daisy Duck, a stark contrast to her surroundings. 

Della gulped and felt paralyzed where she stood. She only found the courage to move when Daisy finally spoke to her: 

“Have a seat, Della, and try to explain to me why it was ok to break Donald’s heart?”

OoOoOoOoOo 

Huey had hardly ever seen Uncle Donald out of any kind of uniform, so it was really weird to see him in what he guessed were casual clothes: an old band tee, an unbuttoned flannel, and the sailor cap. Always the sailor cap, when they went out and about. Donald had never had time to do anything about his hat hair when he was taking care of them full-time, but right now, it didn’t seem like he had been in a hurry, but just didn’t care. Uncle Donald looked sad, sad enough that any smile he gave the kids didn’t reach his eyes. 

It had been so long since Huey had seen that look on his uncle’s face, but it seemed like he was the only one out of all of them to catch on that the tired, stressed, and familiar look was back. As the kids piled in the car, Donald wanting to treat them since it had been so long since they’d been together to hang out, Huey called shotgun. 

“Huey, you always get shotgun. And I called it first!” Dewey complained. 

“I didn’t hear you call it though, and I’m oldest, soooo…” he replied with a smirk. 

“That is so unfair,” Dewey pouted, but was surprised when Huey came up beside him and whispered: 

“Let me try to talk to Uncle Donald, ok? Get him ready to open up? I trust you to keep Louie and Webby occupied.” Dewey’s demeanor changed drastically, which relieved him to no end. So it wasn’t just him thinking it, but Donald seemed off to Dewey as well. Dewey gave his brother a mock salute as he started to climb into the back seat. 

“You can count on me, bro. You can Hue this,” he winked. 

Rolling his eyes, Huey climbed in the Audubon. As they left the parking lot of Daisy’s place, Huey turned the music on softly, creating extra background noise to accompany whatever conversation Dewey had struck to distract their siblings. He took a deep breath, and steeled himself. 

“Uncle Donald, we all know you’re really upset about something right now. Is it something we did?” 

Donald kept his eyes on the road, but looked confused. “Why would you think you did something wrong?”

“It’s just...been so long since we’ve seen you look so sad. We’re worried. Is...is everything ok?” 

There was that distant, distressed look again. Donald shook himself out of it, and answered, “your mom and I had some...different ideas about what family is, I guess. I was shocked, and a little hurt by what she said.”

A little hurt, huh? Uncle Donald was being annoyingly vague right now. “Junior Woodchuck Rule #216 says that fully voicing your thoughts helps others understand you.” 

Donald chuckled wanly. “No one has understood me my whole life, and I don’t know if I’m ready to be heard now.” 

“Can you try? Practice saying it to me like we used to practice for job interviews!” 

Reaching a stop light, Donald squeezed his eyes shut, gathering courage to say the words out loud. Without looking at Huey, he quietly let out what had been weighing on him for days: “Your mom wants legal guardianship of you boys.” 

Huey could only stare at Donald, bill hanging open. 

OoOoOoOoOo 

Della took a seat facing Daisy, nervous and hurt and a whole other mess of emotions. The past few days had obviously been a roller coaster for her brother, judging by the angry girlfriend sitting next to her, but she was hurting too. And wait, this wasn’t even the person she was aching to talk to! Donald had no problem voicing his grievances with her before, so what in the heck was she doing here trying to figure out the facts through his girlfriend? Phooey, she was Della Duck! She wanted to face the problem at hand head-on, not through someone else! 

However, she didn’t want to burn any bridges. Daisy was cool, and she was obviously going to be part of the family, if she didn’t already consider herself adopted in. She had to keep her cool, and try and look at this from Daisy’s angle. She had spent far too long acting without thinking, but she was changing, and she could prove it. Family was what was coming before anything else for Della Duck, something she couldn’t wait to prove to her brother. 

It was something she couldn’t wait to prove to her kids, too, which was how she’d ended up in this situation. Was she going about this the wrong way? She had been gone for so long, but she was back! Della may have never planned on being a mom, or to be missing for a decade, but she was living in the present, for her family. She had spent far too long living for herself. But...where was the disconnect? Donald knew how hard she was trying, so what didn’t he see about this mess, and what didn’t she see? 

This was so confusing, and now she had to think about it all over again while face-to-face with Daisy. What a way to be put on the spot. 

“Daisy, I’m not sure what to say. I really wanted to come and talk to Donald, and I don’t really know how to convince you that I don’t want to hurt him more by talking to him.” 

“Did you even think about how he might feel about all this?” Daisy asked softly, in that quiet kind of angry way that would make anyone’s skin crawl. 

“H-honestly I thought he would be really happy for me, and he would get it. Believe me, I’ve beat myself up over this for the past few days, and I’m trying so hard. I still want his side of the story about how he’s feeling, but I think I know how I feel about it.” 

It had taken her days to come up with why exactly she had wanted to officially adopt the boys, and in that moment, she knew exactly how to get Daisy to see her side of the story. 

“Sometimes, we get to pick and choose our family. Sometimes messy things happen, but in the end, it’s the people that you pick to care about that make it all worthwhile. For me, I want to show my kids that I care and have picked them above all else, and sometimes that takes something concrete and official; a tangible act of love, ya know? Wouldn’t you do that if you could? Donald and I have always been family, but for my kids, I wasn’t really their mom until I came back. I want to show them that this is real. I mean, for me that concrete thing it would be adoption papers, but maybe in the future for you it would be something like, say, a marriage license?” 

Daisy’s steely gaze immediately softened as she took in what Della had said, and turned into something far more thoughtful and contemplative. Della felt herself relax a little as she put together that she had guessed right about her brother’s relationship and emotional status — this was something serious for both of them, which thrilled her to no end. Good for Donnie. But that was something she could think about later. Right now, Della Duck needed to talk to her brother. 

“Daisy, will you please tell me where Donald is? Will you help me talk to him?”

OoOoOoOoOo 

“Uncle Donald, I think I’m gonna be sick.” 

“Well, that makes two of us, Huey,” Donald offered wanly as they were at a stoplight. 

“It’s just that...Mom is our mom, but...you’re…” Huey trailed off, hesitant to finish his sentence. Donald let him try to finish, but after a minute or so, it seemed like this was something big. 

“The marina is just around the corner, should we stop real quick? For old time’s sake?”

Huey nodded while still looking forward, brow furrowed as he thought long and hard about the situation. 

They pulled in to the parking lot of the marina, just a couple of docks away from where the houseboat used to be. Donald and Dewey, Louie, and Webby filed out of the Audubon, but Huey stayed put, processing what was happening. 

Being here was bittersweet, Huey decided, because this is where they’d grown up. The boys had made their own fun and adventure, and while he wouldn’t have it any other way now...things had just changed so much. They had had to grow up so much to fit into this new family dynamic they had known nothing about until just a short while ago. 

A knock on the window pulled Huey out of his reverie. 

Huey slid over as Uncle Donald opened the car door, and then promptly leaned into him. Huey’s arms wrapped around Donald’s torso tightly, as he said what he really thought he wanted to say. “Nothing is the same and I don’t know how to feel about it now that I have to think about it, you know? I really don’t know what to think about Mom having custody of us officially, because I don’t know what would change. I...I’m so confused about this. I don’t know why I’m so confused about this because it makes a lot of sense? Gosh, our family is confusing. But I think there’s one thing that I can have make sense to me.

“I’ve never had a dad before, but I’m pretty sure you are one.” He was met by one of Donald’s amazing hugs, gosh it had been so long since he’d had one, and they squeezed each other tightly. 

“It...it hurt so much, when your mom talked to me about this. I guess it felt like she wanted to cut off all the memories we’ve made and the family we had. It...it takes me out of the picture. It’s another thing that’s making me wonder where I fit in, you know? A lot happened before you came along, but I never want to go back to that person. You changed everything about me. And I’m not sure of who I am without you boys.” 

Huey wrinkled the bridge of his bill, and pulled away so he could look his uncle in the face. “You’d never be without us, though. We love you too much.” 

Donald chuckled, and leaned back, relaxing a bit as Huey stayed glued to his side. “Well, obviously, because I love you guys too much too. I just...need to talk to your mom. I think I’ve let myself calm down enough to do that. Should I...talk to your brothers?” 

“...maybe you should wait to talk to Mom first. But I know that they’re dying to know what’s going on.” 

With one last squeeze, Donald nodded and opened the car door, walking out and tasting the sea. This was his happy place, being with the ocean and his boys. 

Even though their family wasn’t conventional, Donald knew in his heart that they would always be his boys. 

OoOoOoOoOo 

Shortly after sunset, Donald and the kids were making their way back Daisy’s place. Donald was feeling ten times better than he had earlier in the day, and he managed to waltz up the front porch without incident. Whistling, he snagged the spare key from its hiding place, letting it dance across and through his fingers before putting it in the lock. 

“Can you teach me how to do that?!” Dewey piped up beside him. “I didn’t know that you could do things like that!” 

“I’m not _always_ clumsy, you know. Learned some neat coin tricks when José and I were panhandling in Bahia, maybe I can show you sometime.” 

“Wait, what?” Dewey’s question was left unanswered as Donald wiggled his eyebrows. They all filed inside. 

“Hey Dais, just gonna grab the rest of my stuff and go ba—“ Donald froze in place as he realized Daisy _and Della_ were in Daisy’s living room. He was starting to not feel so good. They were both on the couch, laughing...laughing at him? The ridiculousness of his outburst from a couple of days ago? Oh he was not ready to see her. He was going to gear up to talk to Della on the drive back, but she somehow found his safe place. And Daisy had let her in. Everything started to feel fuzzy, his heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach and fizzled as he started to feel weightless and dizzy. He knew what was happening, and if he didn’t get a grip soon, he was totally going to lose it as he got mad. _Focus on the boys, what are they wearing?_ Huey was wearing red, Louie was in green, Dewey in blue. Thank goodness Jones had taught him to focus on what was around him, going so far as to bring in the idea of color coordinating the boys, because he started to find concrete things all around him as he calmed down before realizing someone was holding his hand. As the red faded from his vision, he looked to see who was hanging on to him. 

Della. 

She drove him nuts. They had never gotten along, and there were so many things about her that were never going to mesh with Donald, especially with the rift that about a decade brought. He had had to grow up in a totally different way than she had, both of them only 25 when things went south. But Della was his sister. She always went out of her way to be there for him, like when he had needed to start working through PTSD as a young adult, or through the silly activities and pranks that brought him out of his shell as a teenager. He loved her so much, he couldn’t stay madat her, but it didn’t stop him from feeling frustrated and upset at the situation. 

“Can we talk now? Please?” Della pleaded. Donald was lost, was this even the time or place to be talking? 

Someone else came and squeezed his shoulder. Daisy. She leaned in, whispering, “I’ll take the kids back while you take Della.” Relief washed over Donald. This woman was everything he’d ever needed, what would he do without Daisy? 

OoOoOoOoOo 

Locking up after the kids and Daisy had filed out, Donald found his hands shaking a bit as he tucked the key away from the rest of the world. Taking a deep breath, he did an about-face to Della. 

She gave him a tired smile. “Geez, Donnie, how old is that shirt? I haven’t seen you wear that since college.” 

“Well, I didn’t really need new clothes so why get new stuff? Daisy said it looked ok.” 

“Using your girlfriend to cover your lack of wardrobe? She’s a fashion designer, but it doesn’t cover the fact that you’re still a dork.”

“Says the sister who’s literally worn the same outfit since we were 20.” Donald unlocked the car and tossed his duffel bag in the back seat. Della chuckled weakly. 

“You’ve got me there. Sooooo, are we gonna keep skirting around the problem?” 

Donald sighed deeply as he closed his eyes. “No.” He gasped as Della hugged him suddenly, tightly, taking his breath away. 

“Oh thank goodness,” she breathed, voice wavering. “I...I haven’t seen you that upset since the Spear of Selene. And we didn’t talk to each other for years after that.” 

“...not like you had much of a choice.” 

“But still! Donald, I don’t want to fight, I just want to talk.” 

He felt heavy and tired. Squeezing his eyes shut, he was a bit angry as he responded, “So you want to talk now? We couldn’t have had this conversation before you went to Scrooge and started setting things in motion?” Della looked lost as he got in the car and slammed the door behind him. He had to get a grip, he couldn’t get too angry to talk, or this would never get solved. Breathe in, breathe out.

Della scrambled into the front passenger seat. “Donald, it’s not like that! I didn’t mean to do anything behind your back. I just got so excited, and sometimes I do things without thinking. I just wanted to fix things!”

Donald stayed silent, processing what she had said. He turned the key in the ignition, and started the drive for Killmotor Hill. “...Della, what did you think you were fixing?”

“What was I fi— Donald, I want to fix everything! I was gone for so long, I wasn’t there when I should have been, and I tore you and Scrooge apart! For ten years!!! You did everything for my kids, and they’re amazing, and I’m so proud of them. I want them to be proud of me too, because I’m trying to be a mother, gosh dang it! Nothing I do seems to make up for lost time, and...and…” tears finally spilled over, Della angry, irritated that he just didn’t seem to get it, “I wanted to do something real, something that would prove once and for all that family comes first.

“Dewey is a lot like me, but I still can’t help but feel like Louie and Huey resent me. They still go to you for everything, and I’m still getting to know my own kids. They're my kids, for crying out loud! I feel like such a failure and I have so many regrets if I think about it too much, but I want to move forward! I want to be their mom! I want them to know, without a doubt, that I love them, and this seemed like a good way to do that, you know?”

“...I get it. What I don’t get is why you’d go behind my back and just try and...rip the most important thing in my life away. The boys...they mean everything to me.” 

They buzzed in to the mansion, continuing to drive up the long, long hill. “Phooey, Donald, I’m sorry. I’m SO sorry. This is turning into another thing I gotta fix, huh?” 

“Well, I think I need to fix some things too. It’s been so good to have you back, but now I don’t know what to do. It’s been ten years since I’ve been part of this family dynamic too.” 

“We’ll get through it together, ok? Would you be ok with me adopting my kids?” 

“I think so, as long as you don’t try and get rid of me for good.” 

“Geez Donald, we might not be a normal family, but I’m not trying to out the best father figure the boys have ever known!” Della rushed out of the car when they pulled to a stop, and ran to Donald’s side of the car, yanking open the door and pulling him tight to her in a bear hug. “We’re gonna make sure that everything is 100, no, 200% ok before we move on, got it? It’s been a heavy day, we can talk more in the morning. Oh Donald, you are the BEST and I LOVE you and don’t EVER think I’m trying to erase you from my family again, or I’m gonna have to beat you up.” 

Donald hugged his sister back. “Dells, please don’t beat me up again. And...thank you. For being so considerate. You really grew up on the moon, huh?” 

Della only responded by smacking him on the arm. It seemed like things would be ok in their crazy family. 

OoOoOoOoOo 

After bidding Della farewell, Donald saw that the lights in the houseboat were on. He smiled; Daisy had let herself in, most likely, seeing as her car was still there. He made his way inside. 

His house was less of a mess than he remembered, and looking into the boys’ room revealed Daisy cleaning up a little. “Heya, Toots,” Donald winked at her, feeling so much lighter than he had the last time he was in this room. Daisy scrambled to her feet. 

“You gonna be ok, Mr. Big Shot?” She wrapped her arms around his waist, and Donald couldn’t help but look at her with the fondest adoration. His hands gently guided her face to be in line with his, and he kissed her. Slowly, softly, savoring every bit of it. 

“I am as long as you’re here.” 

“Good. I’m glad you feel that way, because I have a bone to pick with you.” Daisy pulled away from Donald’s embrace, and slapped him across the face.

“What’s the big idea?” Donald, more surprised than anything, was baffled by her sudden attack. 

“Donald Duck, I know you said your life wasn’t normal, but I had no idea you did half the things your sister says you did. Being with her today was rather... illuminating.” 

Donald narrowed his eyes at her. “What did she tell you?”

“Enough! Obviously! You’re remarkable, and why haven’t you shared any of your accomplishments with me?” 

Donald winced. “It normally scares people away.” 

“Well, those people don’t matter if they don’t stick around, do they? Please, let me in, let me try to be a part of your family’s normal. Can you at least promise to try?” 

“One question for you first. What’s the craziest thing Della told you about me?” 

“Gee, there were lots of things, like your rank in the navy, what your temper can do in adventure situations, you helped find Atlantis, you beat up THE Minotaur, alone, when you were 18…I’ll be honest, it’s crazy stuff, and I wouldn’t believe in any of it...except I live in Duckburg, and I know you.”

“Oookay, so she told you a lot. Can I at least try to ease you into this?” 

“Donald, all I ask is that you try. After today, I really saw what family meant to you guys, and I want to be a part of it.” Daisy got a little shy, and looked through her lashes up at Donald. “I really want to be with you, Donald.” 

She watched his shock turn into delight. “Really?! Oh boy oh boy!” He picked her up and spun her in a circle, dipping her as they kissed deeply after setting her down. “I won’t do anything too crazy with you at first, but when are you free next? I know Scrooge is aching to hunt for the lost necklace of Marie Antoinette, and I think I might know someone who would be an expert on jewelry and fashion who would be incredible in this situation.” 

Daisy felt a thrill at his enthusiasm. “Donald, you better believe you can count on me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to bury my head, because I’m still trying to figure out how to write the triplets all together. Whoops. Have a cute lil Huey moment, though. Might make up for it.


End file.
